Lowest Annual Fuel Cost

Notes: Assumes 15,000 miles of travel each year, with 55% city driving and 45% highway driving, and fuel costs of $4.87/gallon for regular unleaded gasoline, $5.76/gallon for premium, $5.72/gallon for diesel, $3.54 for E85 and $0.13/kWh for electricity. USD = U.S. dollars.

There was a time when driving EVs was to keep the polar bears cool. These days, it's what cool people do.

The value of gasoline would have to drop to $3.33/gal on a 50mpg vehicle (55% city 45% highway) to get less than $1,000/year. Likewise 15,000 annual miles at $0.31/kWh + $4/mo for Electrify America could be $1,908 on a 2.5mi/kWh EV.

 

I just finished calculating an estimate based on my circumstances. I drive 210 miles per week, nearly all of it is an urban work commute. I tend to stay off the highways and opt for surface streets, so I'm expecting to see 3.5 miles/kWh or more.

I'll charge daily in my garage during off-peak hours. My rate plan is 12.6 cents June through September, and 8.5 cents October through May. So that's 3,570 miles in the summer, divided by 3.5 miles/kWh, times 12.6 cents, for a summer time cost of $128.52.

Winter is way better! 7,350 miles, divided by 3.5 miles/kWh, times 8.5 cents, for a winter cost of $178.50.

That’s $307.02 annually. My current 2011 Clubman gets right at 30 MPG. I can fill up at Costco for $3.15 a gallon. making the same annual mileage cost $1,146.60. So even at just under 11,000 miles, I ought to be able to save $840 a year.

This assumes gas prices will stay above $3…a pretty safe assumption I think. If I were to switch to the “Overnight Savers” plan on my electric service, assuming I could keep my daytime usage low enough for it, that would change my 12.6 and 8.5 cent rates to 6.1 and 5.2 cents respectively. That would bring my savings awfully close to $1,000 a year.

 

There's no doubt about the cost savings. In my household the SE is 1/4 the annual fuel cost of our ICE vehicles.

My SE averages $260 per year on electricity, and our ICE vehicle average gas (from 2021) is $1,066 per year.

 

My Leaf cost me $245 to drive 9800 miles in 2021.

2.5 cents/mile.

 

When I had my ICE MINI and was driving roughly 500 miles per week, it cost me over $300 per month in fuel and that was back when regular gasoline was under $3/gallon. I pay about $50 per month on electricity to charge my SE, still driving 500 miles per week. So my savings have been huge.

(Note: my EVSE is on a separate meter with an off-peak rate of $0.04/kWh, so each month I know exactly what charging my SE costs. It fluctuates slightly, but always between $50-$60 dollars. And I am aware of how low my electrical rate is.)

 

But you didn't use regular gasoline, did you? The SE is the only MINI Cooper that doesn't burn premium gasoline, isn't it?

 

Always premium for MINI, always. I was just referring to the base price of fuel. I'd say premium probably rose to around $3.50 per gallon by the time I got my SE.

 

We drive the SE 68 miles at minimum per day. $.10/kw vs our 18mpg ice vehicle. Our savings are adding up quickly.

 

That is the life of our SE and we see at least 5 miles/kWh. To get just 3.5 you’d have to be driving it like you stole it or in extreme cold.

 

Or have crossbars and a bike rack on the roof most of the time. I take a hit below 5 because of that. But 'bare roof' - yep!

 

Yesterday’s round trip was 172 km, 90% Green, 10% Sport (and spirited), returned home with 16% showing. Used 27.6 KWh at the wall, at a cost of $1.75… one litre of regular gas is $1.79⁹ today, so what’s my MPGe? Lol

 

I think EPA uses 33.7kWh per gallon of gasoline. So if you used usable battery (assuming 100% SoC start) then 84% of 28.9kWh for the MINI or 24.276kWh and 27.6kWh at the wall (at 86.3% charging efficiency).

So 4.4 mi/kWh if you measure at the car, and 3.87 mi/kWh at the wall for roughly 148 MPGe and 130 MPGe respectively. ICE Coopers will use premium fuel so there are even more cost savings!

 

I figured that, but wanted to be extremely conservative. Plus, I test drove one a month ago (ordered mine in April), some theft based driving tactics are a near certainty!

 

I paid $5.80/gal in June when I filled up my VW for the last time. Thanks to solar at home and free charging at work, I only pay for fuel when I take a road trip in the SE. Never going back to gasoline.

 

That’s a good point!

 

I am talking NZ$ here, but the amount of savings does astound me, we have only consumed NZ$218 on charging the SE since almost a year ago, and we have done several road trips already. NZ$150 is the petrol we consumed for a full tank of premium petrol monthly on our previous Subaru Legacy GT wagon.

 

The last few times I was in Australia, I observed that petrol prices were very close to ours in Canada, ie about 25-30% higher than the average US price. This week, regular (89) dropped below $1.70 (NZ$2.15 a litre, US$4.90 a US gallon) for the first time since the start of Putin’s terror campaign.

 

So far, charging cheaply at home, free at a nearby 25 kW DCFC, and a partial charge once at a paid DCFC, I’ve spent $16.76 Canadian ($12.77 US) to travel 1426 km (886 miles). Using my wallet, rather than the specific energy of petrol, to calculate equivalent fuel economy: at today’s local gas prices, that’s just about 142 km/le (or 0.7 l/100 kme), or 333 mpge!

 

The NZ Govt is currently subsidising the petrol cost due to the high petrol cost affected by Putin. Actual petrol cost without subsidy would be closer to NZ$5